A pump is connected to a motor by a shaft, also known as a drive shaft. The shaft provides the torque necessary to turn the impeller of the pump. The shaft is usually two shafts: the motor shaft from the motor and the pump shaft from the pump. The two shafts are bolted together or coupled together at a coupling. The coupling or coupling nut can contain a coupling spacer. The coupling allows the two pieces, motor and pump, to be disconnected for maintenance.
All good maintenance programs have a process to ensure the shafts, and couplings are aligned within the allowed tolerances. Shaft alignment is critically important to the operation of the pump and motor equipment as misalignment increases the stress on the shafts contributing to wear and tear and potentially to failure.
There are various mechanical and digital means for detecting shaft alignment. A common system is a dial test indicator, or DTI, which typically contains a dial and an arm and measures the angular displacement. The angular displacement can be correlated to a linear distance.
Once a shaft misalignment is detected, the process of aligning the shafts can be primitive. A typical shaft realignment involves a hammer and piece of wood. An operator hammers the wood against the coupling or coupling spacer until alignment is reached by trial and error. Such a method takes significant time and has the potential for injury to the operators person.
Therefore, a method for bringing two shafts into alignment quickly that does not involve the potential for injury to a person is desired.